1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a seamless knit hosiery blank and a garment formed thereby and more particularly to a contoured blank formed by a plurality of increasing and decreasing diameter portions configuring the blank so that it conforms to the natural shape of the female lower torso and leg.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pantyhose and hosiery manufacturers have long searched for a construction that would enable leg covering hosiery garments to more precisely conform to the shape of the wearer""s lower torso and leg, thus enhancing fit characteristics and garment appearance. Traditionally, some shaping has been possible on fixed needle circular knit hosiery machines through the use of reduced size graduated stitches whereby the top of the blank which conforms to the waist of the pantyhose formed from two such blanks starts at a given maximum diameter opening and then gradually is reduced in diameter as the garment is continuously knit toward the toe to thus more precisely fit the leg upper portion and the smaller leg lower portion to the foot. Graduated stitches are generally construed as stitches that have been reduced in stitch length, thus removing yarn from each course that utilizes the smaller stitches. While this technique has been for the most part effective to provide a garment with good fit characteristics through the tapering process in conjunction with the use of stretch yarn, there is still a desire to develop a technique to fully configure such a garment to both decrease and selectively increase the blank and garment made therefrom diameter where the lower torso and leg follows such a general shape. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.
The present invention is for a circularly knit constant wale tubular hosiery blank having panty, thigh, knee, ankle and foot portions which are selectively separated by increasing and decreasing diameter graduation portions to configure the blank to conform to the natural shape of a female lower torso and leg. The blank for a pantyhose garment utilizing two such blanks joined together is usually knit starting at the welt or waist portion and then extending downwardly through the upper panty portion, the lower panty portion, the thigh portion, the knee portion, the ankle portion and finishing at the foot portion with the diameter of the tubular blank decreasing by the use of graduated stitches throughout the length. In the present invention, the blank is started at an upper panty portion on all of the needles of the machine, thus having a fixed number of wales and a constant diameter, and then extends to a panty graduation portion of increasing diameter, then to a lower panty/upper boot portion of constant diameter and thereafter to the thigh graduation portion having a decreasing diameter. Formation of the knee with a constant diameter follows with a lower leg graduation portion of decreasing diameter connecting the knee portion to an ankle portion of constant diameter. A final instep graduation portion extends to a formed foot portion of constant diameter. Thus, the blank experiences selectively positioned areas of at least two graduation portions of increasing diameter and two graduation portions of decreasing diameter. The number of needles and resulting wales remains the same throughout the blank.
In the panty graduation portion of increasing diameter mentioned earlier, the panty graduation portion of increasing diameter has been developed to provide additional yarn and fabric in the lower panty portion and crotch area to reduce the yarn and fabric stress at that location and thereby making the garment more comfortable to wear. Yarn and fabric stress in this location occurs because the provision of the U-shaped seam to join the blanks together, either with or without a gusset, reduces the amount of fabric in each of the blanks as they are sewn together. Providing a panty graduation portion of increasing diameter proximate that area replaces this lost fabric and reduces the stress to which the yarn and fabric is subjected when no increased diameter graduation is employed.
From this summary, it can be seen that a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a hosiery blank and garment made therefrom having superior fit and appearance characteristics brought about by the selective use of graduation stitches during the knitting process.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a pantyhose garment utilizing two identically formed circularly knit tubular blanks which, when joined, form a panty portion and individual leg and foot portions. Additional fit characteristics can be provided by including a gusset of appropriate size along the juncture line formed when the tubular blanks are slit and sewn together along their slit edges.
Thus, there has been outlined in summary form, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are obviously additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.
It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting in any respect. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the concept upon which this disclosure is based and that it may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is also to be understood that the abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor to limit its scope in any way.
This summary and these objectives of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.